Let's Go Back
by GSRH
Summary: Hermione has been through a rough time, but she knows she'll always have a home to go back to. As Hermione returns to Hogwarts she finds there's a whole new summer camp program that she's been roped into helping with! Shenanigans ensue as Hermione tries to navigate her relationships while trying to control unruly groups of kids! Dramione AU, Rated T for Language, RnR
1. Chapter 1

Hermione inhaled the unforgettable musk of the corridors as she made her way to the headmaster's office. How long it had been since she'd been back. Almost fifteen years, she thought with a mild sense of bewilderment. Well, she was just glad that it would always be here for her, even in times as sorry as this.

As she continued on her path she wasn't surprised she didn't see anyone. Usually there was no one here during summer, and Hermione was actually quite surprised she'd been able to come during the off season. She had reached her destination and muttered the password that revealed the spiraling stairwell. As she ascended the stairs she thought she'd probably be giddy as a schoolgirl to be back here if only the circumstances were different. Under the current situation she was actually quite embarrassed and hoped to avoid any further questioning on the topic. Mcgonagall had already given her a thorough interrogation upon Hermione's initial phone call. It was quite a shock for the poor women, afteral it's not everyday a previous star-pupil and war-hero calls in tears, unsure of what to do. Of course, in true Minerva fashion, she recovered quickly and assessed the best course of action. She had offered Hermione her old Head's room back and ensured her they had plenty of work for her to help with. Mcgonagall knew the stubborn girl would never stay with them unless she could give them some kind of compensation, and both women valued hard work far more than money. So one agonizing phone call later Hermione was packed and headed out to her second home.

As she landed on the top step she was ecstatic to see the woman standing in front of the desk. "Hello Professor," Hermione politely stated as she was feeling quite awkward, "thank you so much for letting me come back. I'm eager to get started on whatever you've got for me!" She assumed she'd be helping make lesson plans or organizing classrooms for the upcoming school year.

"Oh please Hermione, call me Minerva. And yes about the job. We're so excited to have another pair of hands on deck! I'm sure you'll be great with the children and I'm sure they'll be delighted to meet you. Come now, I trust you know the way to your room. You can tidy up and I'll introduce you during dinner." Minerva moved away from the desk and closer to Hermione as she spoke, slowly guiding them towards the staircase.

Hermione however, had other plans. "What children?" She whipped around to face the other women. "Isn't it summer break? Why are there kids here?" She felt slightly overwhelmed at the idea of being surrounded by children. Not that she didn't love them, which she did, she just found it a little harder to be around them now. Especially babies, they were the hardest.

Minerva looked slightly surprised, "I was under the impression you knew Hermione, I'm sorry. Well, I simply don't have time to explain everything to you, but in short we've opened a summer camp. You've been paired with a veteran counselor who will guide you and mentor you in these first few weeks. I'll send them over to pick you up for dinner." And with that the older woman was off, skirting past Hermione and disappearing down the hallway.

Hermione had dealt with shock a lot in her life. The war had taught her that. However, with recent events she was more vulnerable than usual and as a result couldn't handle it as well as she might have. She couldn't help but stand in shock for a moment. The school had a summer camp? She'd have a mentor? Who was it?

"Oh well, no use puttering around Granger. Best get moving and try to settle in before dinner." Hermione spoke to herself as she went down the stairs. Her feet automatically headed in the direction of the Heads room. She remembered her last year here fondly. When she returned, her and Blaise Zabini were made Heads and given their own room. She loved it and had spent far more time than she'd like to admit curled up by the fire. And Blaise had been a manageable companion, even friendly at times. It was only bad if he brought home a drunken conquest, or worse, if his bff decided to drop by. Even after a war Malfoy still hadn't given up on teasing her. She did notice he'd stopped using Mudblood and had let up a little all over, it was only a minor improvement though.

As she came to a stop in front of the familiar door, Hermione realised she'd forgotten to ask for the password. She figured she'd try her old one and sure enough it worked. Thank goodness because she was in desperate need of a shower.

Stepping into the flat was like stepping back into her last year here. It was the same living space, on the right were the bookshelves and the fireplace. On the left, a lovely little kitchen embedded in the wall with an island for a table. Hermione headed into the room and saw the staircase that lead to her room on the right and on the left was… she supposed no one's right now. And the bathroom was located between them.

Finally in her room she realized it wasn't exactly like her last year here. Instead of Gryffindor red and gold smearing every surface possible there was only hints here and there. It was all in all much more neutral and to be perfectly honest, Hermione preferred it.

Unpacked and dressed in some clean jeans and a simple t-shirt Hermione was looking around the kitchen to see if someone had stocked it when she heard a knock. "Perfect timing." she thought. The mere idea of dinner was enough to get her excited.

Pulling open the door Hermione wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but what she found was certainly not it. There was simply no way in hell Minerva was that old or crazy to have paired her with him. Even the thought that he was here was too much for her brain to grasp.

"Granger?" The silver haired ferret asked, "You alright?" When that didn't warrant a response he prodded further, "Oh, come on Granger, I'm not that good looking. You're gonna make me blush." And sure enough that snapped her out of it.

"Malfoy?! What the hell are you doing here?" Her confusion, outrage, shock, and disbelief swirled inside her. How could this be possible?

"Careful Granger, can't have that kind of language around the kids, now can we?" He quipped with his signature smirk.

Hermione was in total shock still. She had about a million questions that would only lead to more questions. She was tempted to reach out and pinch him to make sure he was really there and this wasn't just some kind of joke. But no. Draco Malfoy had just come to pick her up for dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

The sounds of their steps echoed off the walls, filling the silence. After she'd gotten over the initial shock they'd started towards dinner. She may have calmed down a little, but she hadn't even tried to tackle the other pressing issue. That fact that she was to be paired with him all summer. How could Minerva have done this to her? The women knew better than most how little they'd gotten along. But even he wasn't going to stand between her and food so she'd willingly left with him.

Hermione's eyes wandered towards him for what must have been the thousandth time during their walk. She couldn't get over how much he'd changed, well physically. She was positive he was still the same vile human being underneath everything. But the new build and updated style certainly made him more tolerable. She'd almost had another heart attack when she saw that he was wearing jeans. Muggle clothes on the infamous pureblood. It wasn't just the clothes that had changed though. He was wearing his hair loose instead of glued back. She thought it suited him, made him seem a little less evil. But only a little.

"Granger, at this point you should just take a picture. It'll last much longer and you can stop trying to be sneaky." Malfoy startled her as he spoke.

Hermione couldn't help the red that flooded her face. "I don't take pictures of things unless they're beautiful or memorable. And you are neither." She stated factually, not even bothering to deny the stareing.

"Oh come on Hermione, we both know that's not true." She couldn't help but stop walking at this remark. "Granger?" Malfoy turned once he realised she'd stopped keeping pace.

"You just called me Hermione…" She couldn't recall a time that he'd done that before. After so many years of hearing 'Granger' her name sounded so foreign coming from him.

"Well that's your name, isn't it? You can call me Draco you know. It's not like we're in school anymore." He spoke so casually and turned to continue on. As if he hadn't just made a totally mature and appropriate comment. There had been no mockery, no harsh tone. It was almost...friendly.

Hermione hurried to catch up to the alien creature ahead of her. "Who are you and what have you done with Malfoy?"

"I've just changed, _Hermione_. I know you've noticed the physical ones," he cast her a telling smirk, "but I also learned a lot after we graduated. I think you'll find we have a good bit in common." Now Hermione was sure someone had replaced him. There was no way this was the same person who had teased and tormented her throughout school. She was weary to believe anything he said. "And don't think I didn't notice your change as well. I like the hair, by the way. It suits you much better than that bush you used to have." He had the audacity to wink.

Hermione immediately reached for her hair. She twirled a finger around one stand. It was much shorter now and thus easier to manage. It still had it's voluminous texture, but now it was bob length and she could actually brush or straighten it if she so chose. "Yes, well...you look less like a vampire now so I suppose that's good." Hermione mentally berated herself. Really? That was the best comeback she could think of? In her defense she was thrown off guard by this 'new' Malfoy.

Then another thing Hermione had never witnessed before happened. Draco Malfoy laughed. A good proper laugh, complete with a smile and belly grab. Now she was positive he'd been possesed.

"Yes, I got bored of looking so severe. Plus," he moved a little closer to her, "women go crazy for the disheveled look." He winked at her yet again, a common quirk of his it seemed. Before Hermione realised it they'd reached the Great Hall. She'd been so focused on Malfoy that she hadn't even noticed how close they were.

She didn't get the chance to respond because Malfoy was already pushing through the doors into the hall. Hermione followed and could hardly believe her eyes. The hall was filled with kids ranging from first years to seventh. What astounded Hermione more than the sheer number of kids here during summer was that they weren't organized by any house system that she could tell. Tables were mostly made up of age and instead of red, blue, yellow, and green kids were dressed in a variety of colors. There didn't even appear to be a uniform.

"C'mon Granger, can't have you missing your big intro. Follow me." And without hesitation Malfoy grabbed her hand and dragged her to the front of the room. Hermione looked down at his hand around her wrist. She was flooded with emotion, the past few days having been the most strenuous and confusing of her life, and now Malfoy was touching her and not throwing a fit about it. It was all a bit too much for her.

"Ah Miss Granger, I see you found Mr Malfoy well enough." Minerva greeted them, but the glance she gave to their hands didn't go unnoticed. Hermione ripped her arm away from Malfoy and made her way around the table. "I know you haven't been able to catch up much, but they'll be plenty of time for that later. I trust Mr Malfoy explained everything to you Hermione?"

"Actually, no. The walk was much shorter than we anticipated." Hermione wasn't quite sure why she'd given an excuse. It's not like she cared if Malfoy got in trouble or not.

"Very well then. As I mentioned earlier we now have a summer camp program. We've made it mandatory for first years, but most the students continue to come back. It offers students a chance to mingle outside their houses, as we abolish those during camp, and gives some of them a better alternative to going home. You and Mr Malfoy are responsible for the seventh year team and games management. Camp doesn't officially start till tomorrow so you two can use tonight to go over the rules and guidelines for the summer. Mr Malfoy has a copy of the regulations, however I'm sure he's quite familiar with them. He's been helping us here for the past five summers." Minerva smiled fondly at Malfoy and returned to her meal.

Hermione sat in silence trying to, yet again, process everything. She didn't have much time though, because before she knew it Minerva was introducing the counselors to the school. Hermione had been so busy thinking when she'd entered the hall she hadn't even noticed the familiar faces. Neville was a returning counselor, along with Luna and much to Hermione's dismay Lavender Brown. Blaise was here too and she made a note to say hi to him after dinner. She actually wouldn't mind catching up with him and the others a bit. Theo Nott and Padma Patil were here as well, but Hermione hadn't particularly known them in school. Padma she knew a little through DA but she'd been much closer with Parvati. 'Well, this should be an interesting summer', Hermione thought.


	3. Chapter 3

As dinner came to a close Hermione found herself more tired than she'd been in awhile. It had been the type of day that made it feel like this morning was yesterday. She abandoned any hope of having a conversation with anyone, and instead chose to go back to her room and attempt to sleep. She managed to get past everyone with a polite wave and was skirting past students, attempting to make her way out. It wasn't until she was few steps out in the hallway that she realised she'd grown a shadow. Hermione's war training kicked in for a moment, making her continue on and chose the best course of action. As she weighed her options of violence and magic she realised she was being a bit irrational. She was in the school after all. Hermione abandoned her battle strategy and whipped around.

She regretted not attacking her follower. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Well, McGonagall did just tell you I'd be giving you the rundown of things here. Unless you somehow forgot that," which she had, "though I doubt it with that massive head of yours." She was about to retort when he cut her off. "Anyway, let's go. Haven't got all night. Some of us need our beauty sleep a little bit more than others." He gave her a pointed look as he passed.

Ignoring his jab, which took almost all of her energy, Hermione realised something, "And whose room shall we go to?" He'd been heading in the direction of her room, but she didn't exactly remember inviting him in.

"Looks like Mcgonagall kept quite a bit from you, Granger. I take it she didn't tell you who your roommate is?" He turned around to look at her. He wanted to see her reaction when she put the pieces together.

"Look Malfoy what are you talking ab…"She drained off as she answered her own question. "...no. She didn't….Minerva would never..." She looked up at Draco almost pleading him to tell her it was a joke. He'd just been pulling her leg.

Nope, no joke." He said, reading her mind. "I'm headed back to _our_ room for the debriefing." And before Hermione could have a meltdown Draco didn't miss a beat. "Now hurry up,. Like I said, we don't have forever."

They walked briskly back to...their..room. Hermione's brain was beyond fried at this point. Was Minerva trying to kill her? Because it certainly seemed that way. First she'd paired her with him, then she'd roomed them together, what was next? At this point she wouldn't be surprised if the witch locked them in a broom closet together! 'Goodness, let's hope not', thought Hermione. 'Even if he is hotter and a bit more mature and kinda tolerable and slightly do-able….Oh my goodness Hermione Granger stop it right now!' That was it. Hermione had officially lost her marbles. She was self-diagnosing herself as insane. Because there was no way she had even thought about having sex with Malfoy. No. Way.

"Granger, stop blushing and start walking." Malfoy called from up ahead. He was almost at the door. And at some point, in her mental shock, she'd stopped walking. Hermione quickly ran to catch up and they reached the door at the same time. "So Hermione," Malfoy smiled at her, "what's the password?"

"What do you mean what's the password? Didn't you say you're living here too? How'd you get your stuff in if you don't know the password?" Hermione should honestly give up making sense of her life now.

"Mcgonagall let me in earlier today and told me I could settle in but once I left I had to wait for you to let me back in. She said you'd know it because it's your old Head's password. I don't know Granger, I just let the woman have her way without too many questions. She's done a lot for me." Hermione would have pried further but between his done-talking-about-it tone and the other pressing issue at hand she decided to put it on the backburner.

"Yes, I know the password." She wasn't quite sure how he'd react to it though.

"Well then.. what are you waiting for? Let us in." He looked at her expectantly, arms crossed and feigning impatience.

Hermione had never been happier to have chosen such a lovely password. She didn't think she'd get the chance to say this to him without sounding like a schoolgirl again. Even if he did have that effect on her. Proudly, she stepped closer to the door and said, "Ferret."

The door creaked open and Hermione threw Malfoy a smile on her way into the room. "That's your bloody password?!", she heard from the hallway.


	4. Chapter 4

Malfoy sat glaring at Hermione over the brim of his cup.

"Are you really going to act like a five year old all night?" Hermione cuddled deeper into her blankets as she spoke. She'd nicely cocooned herself on the sofa in front of the fire. Malfoy had already claimed the love seat that was closer to the heat. "I made that password forever ago, and even Zabini thought it was funny!" She immediately realised bringing up Blaise wouldn't help her cause. Clearly Malfoy didn't love the idea of his friend taking her side.

"I think I need something stronger than tea to deal with you, Granger." He abruptly got up and went to the cupboards. He pulled out a bottle of red wine and proceeded to pour himself a rather large glass full. Where he'd gotten the wine or the glasses from she wasn't sure. "Would you care to join me Hermione? You look like you could use some."

"What the hell, why not? You're right I could use some." She'd had an agonizingly long forty-eight hours and wine sounded perfect right now, if she was being honest.

"Care to talk about it?" He asked while pouring her an equally full glass. Draco Malfoy being kind and considerate? Just another reason she could use a drink.

"Maybe in a drink or two. I'm too sober right now, and quite frankly you're the last person I want to talk to about this." Hermione was shocking herself with her honesty, but she really didn't have the energy to put up fronts anymore. "Unfortunately, you may be my only option." She mumbled the last bit to herself. Unfortunately Malfoy just happened to be handing her the wine.

"Now you've intrigued me, please go on." He sounded like a kid about to find out what his Christmas presents were.

"I told you," Hermione raised her glass in a mock toast, "in a few more drinks." And with that she tipped her head back and nearly downed it. Thankfully, she did leave some. She didn't want to appear too desperate. She still had some dignity.

"Well, well...Who would've thought the almighty Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, could actually hold her liquor?" Malfoy was enjoying himself quite a bit. "Anyway, we probably should discuss the briefing." He said, drawing attention away from whatever was bothering her so much. If he knew anything about her it was that she valued work above almost anything else, especially personal matters.

"Right, right." She said, gathering herself into a more upright position. "Minerva mentioned that we'd be in charge of the seventh years, and something about games?"

"Yup. You're quite lucky you got paired with me, Granger. Aside, from obvious reasons," Hermione snorted, "Mcgonagall has a soft spot for me and gives me the best year. Trust me, you do not want to be babysitting the first years." Hermione opened her mouth to ask why and anticipating her question Malfoy said, "Think of one-hundred first year me's. Don't worry, you'll see during games." Immediately Hermione got it. It sent a shiver down her spine just thinking about the horror.

"So," Malfoy continued on, "we basically meet with our group in the morning to give them their schedules for the day, then go to wherever the games station is and spend the day rotating years. So we might have first years, first and continue until we've gone through every year. Then we have another meeting with our year to recap the day. Finally there's a counselor meeting while they're at dinner. There's a couple more things but you'll get the jist of it tomorrow, learn by doing, you know?"

Hermione actually did. She nodded thoughtfully as she processed. It made enough sense to her. "What's tomorrow's game?" She was only worried about one game. Anything else she could handle. Just not…

"Quidditch!" Malfoy said with clear excitement. "We start practices tomorrow because there's a huge tournament at the end of the summer. We rotate which group practices instead of regular activities. And today, Saturdays, are free days, so we'll go tomorrow then next Monday."

Hermione couldn't think of a time in her life that everything had been conspiring against her so much. She downed the rest of her wine and silently went to refill her glass. She was going to need more wine if she wanted to get through this. After she'd refilled her glass and cozied up under her blankets again, she looked at Malfoy. "Do you know what happened the last time I rode a broom, Malfoy?"

He noticed the pink tint her cheeks had already taken on. He wondered if she knew how much of a light-weight she was. "No, Hermione. Please enlighten me." He leaned forward in his chair, anticipating her answer.

"I fell off. Well, first I flew straight up, then I fell off. I probably would have died if…." Hermione got a lost look in her eyes as she trailed off. Malfoy was just about to ask if she was alright when she burst into tears. "Oh, bloody hell! I promised myself I was done with this! Bloody tears, traitors." She was mumbling incoherently to herself, and Malfoy wasn't quite sure how to respond. Of course, he'd seen women cry before. Pansy whenever he rejected her, for example. But that wasn't anything like this. This...looked like it hurt.

He couldn't think of anything else to do except move closer. He abandoned his spot on the loveseat in favor of the one next to her on the sofa. He awkwardly patted her back.

"Oh, Draco," He was slightly taken aback by the use of his first name, "you probably think I'm a fool. But I have a good reason to cry! I swear. I don't just...cry willy nilly." The wine had clearly taken its effect on her. "See, Ron, the bastard, came home drunk again. Maybe high too, he does that too sometimes. But this time was bad. He wanted...he wanted.." Her crying increased and Draco could only assume what she meant. As she continued on he hated the Weasel more and more each second. It would be a miracle if she finished and he didn't go off to kill the idiot.

"It's okay Hermione, I understand." Draco said, making more soothing circles on her back.

Sniffling, she calmed down a little bit. It was actually easy to talk to him. "Well, anyway he had come home at about seven and by the time I got him..off of me...it was time for work. So I just left. I didn't think he'd follow me. But he did. Wanted to have it out in front of the whole office. Started screaming at me about so many things. The worst was about how bad in bed I apparently am. Which I'm not, for the record," Although whose record and why it mattered she wasn't quite sure. "As a result, my boss fired me. All because of him! I didn't do anything!" All of a sudden she was up and pacing the floor. "I didn't do a damn thing and he..he..he's horrible! An awfully, spoiled, wanker. Worse than you used to be, Draco!"

"Gee thanks, Hermione." He was trying not to be amused, as she was having a proper meltdown, but she looked so darn cute. Her hair was bemused and ruffled from the blankets and her agitated state. Her face was slightly red now, and she kept wobbling around. Realizing just how much she was wobbling he realised walking might not be the best idea for her right now. "Ok, come on Granger. Down girl." He said pulling her back to the couch.

Huffing was the only sign of protest Draco received. "You now, you're really not as bad as you used to be Draco." Hermione said, taking a completely different turn. "You're nice and not..evil. It's weird." Draco couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. Never would he have imagined the Golden Gryffindor sitting tipsy next to him, calling him nice no less, and yet here they were.

"Alright, Hermione, I think you need some sleep." He scooped her up and started carrying her to her room. As much as he was enjoying himself, he did need a fellow counselor tomorrow. They'd have a big day ahead of them and having a hangover wasn't going to help Hermione's situation.

The last thing Hermione saw before fading off was a male figure standing at her door, looking back at her fondly. What a nice dream she thought as she fell asleep...


	5. Chapter 5

When Hermione awoke the next morning she was more than a little confused. For starters, she'd forgotten about the alarm she set when she'd unpacked yesterday. How had she gotten into her bed? She tried to sit up but immediately her head disagreed. The night came rushing back to her. Most of it anyway…

She remembered getting her second glass of wine. She struggled to remember what happened afterwards though. Something about Quidditch? Not in the mood to dwell on things, she decided a shower and some breakfast would do her some good.

She traversed from her room to their shared bathroom, being careful to bring all her toiletries with her. She didn't trust that if she left her shampoo in the bathroom where Draco could get it that her hair wouldn't suddenly be blonde. 'Wait a moment….did I just call him Draco?', Hermione thought to herself. It hadn't even sounded unnatural...even if it had just been in her head.

Brushing away the thought she deposited her towel and belongings on a little bench outside the shower curtain and turned on the water. Her hangover had faded slightly but she'd neglected to turn the bathroom lights on, instead favoring a candle light charm emitting from her wand. Soft, natural light was always much more soothing than the fluorescent devil's they'd had installed when they'd rebuilt Hogwarts. Unfortunately, someone had the bright idea, literally, to add a touch of Muggle culture to the building in an attempt to demolish old wartime beliefs. Why they'd picked light bulbs and not television and phones she'd never understand.

Stepping under the now scalding water Hermione let out a small moan of happiness. She lived for the simple pleasures in life like hot showers, reading in hammocks, and petting cute animals. She took her time going through her basic routine. Slowly massaged her headache away with shampoos and conditioners. Spent time lathering her body in her favorite body wash. And her favorite thing of all was reaching across the bathroom, grabbing her wand, and casting a targeted hair removal spell. Sometimes she shaved the Muggle way, but even she indulged in doing things magically occasionally. Plus, with how hot it had been she didn't want to sport chopped up legs from her own attempts when she donned a pair of shorts. Finally stepping out of the shower and drying off Hermione felt about a million times better. No more hangover which was great, but she also found herself lacking much memory from last night's affairs.

Not one to be bothered with things she couldn't control, Hermione dressed and dried her hair. The short bob didn't take much styling for it to look manageable, one of Hermione's favorite features of her new do. She through on a white headband to keep her sidebangs tucked away and was out the door to get some breakfast….if they had anything in the cupboards that was.

As she descended the staircase her daydream of food was interrupted. "Ah, look who's finally awake." Called Draco from one of the seats at the island. In front of him sat a plate of scrambled eggs and toast that looked beyond delicious to Hermione.

"Finally?" Hermione stated incredulously. "It's 7:30 and we're not needed till 8 for the counselors meeting." Hermione Granger was never late and always punctual. Even on mornings when she woke up hungover.

"Right, right." Draco brushed away her comment and offered her a spread similar to his. "So how's your head this morning?" He said with a knowing look.

Hermione choose to eat rather than dignify him with an answer. She couldn't believe she'd gotten drunk with him last night. She also couldn't believe what she was eating. "Oh my goodness, Draco!" The aforementioned jumped at his companions sudden outburst. "These are the best eggs I think I've ever tasted! Where on earth did you get them from?"

"I made them." Draco said between barely concealed laughs. Hermione was dumbstruck for a moment before she actually looked around the kitchen. She realised there were eggs, milk, bread and butter, pans, and basically just a huge mess right in front of her. She'd been a little preoccupied by the sight of food to have noticed.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" She asked to sedated her curiosity. When would the pureblood prat have ever needed to cook for himself.

"Well I started to learn when I was younger. My parents both traveled a lot and left me with maids. They were lovely women who could cook things from all over the world." Hermione was too stunned by his honesty to butt in with questions about why they'd had maids, not house elves. "I don't suppose you know this but I was forced to live in Muggle London for about a year after the war. I had very limited use of magic and the Ministry gave me a percentage of my savings I had monthly access to. I just started to cook more then I suppose." He snuck a look at her from the corner of his eye to see her reaction. He almost lost his cool and laughed in her face. She was wearing the most dumbfounded expression Draco had ever seen on the wiz kid.

"Draco that's incredible…", Hermione would have never guessed about any of it. It did explain his lack of prejudice towards her and why he'd taken to Muggle clothing. "I mean, I'm sorry you were mostly raised by maids. Why not house elves? And that's incredibly lucky for you to have just gone to Muggle London. Had you ever been before? Did you like it?" Hermione felt herself babbling and asking question after question, but she couldn't help it. That was the most information the infamous Draco Malfoy had ever given to her. And of course, her curiosity was rivaled by none.

Draco tried and failed to contain a laugh, a noise Hermione had never quite heard before. He just laughed for a minute and Hermione thought it was… wonderful. He looked so happy and she could glimpse over the tops of the high walls he always had up and see what he looked like unguarded. Well, less guarded than usual. Much like Hermione she suspected he never really put his walls down one-hundred percent. "I think you've learned enough about me for now, Hermione." The use of her first name causing her to blush slightly. Draco calmed down a bit more and leveled his gaze with hers. "Do you remember last night Hermione?"

"Uhm… to be honest no. I just remember your debriefing and then getting another glass of wine. I assumed that I just got sleepy and went to bed. Why? Is that not what happened?" Instant panic flooded through her as she thought of all the possible scenarios that could have happened. Draco did have a reputation after all, and Hermione highly doubted time in the Muggle world had much effect on that. Or had she done something in a drunken stupor?

Draco could hear the wheels spinning in Hermione's brain, could see the smoke coming from her ears due to the fast thought process. "Hermione, calm down." He raised his voice slightly to get her attention. Her gaze snapped to meet his, a mix of emotions swimming in them. "Nothing happened between us, don't worry." He hadn't realized how freaked out the thought of them even kissing would make her, but he'd never let her see how that affected him. "Nothing will happen. You just talked about that smarmy bastard Weasel and why you ended up here. You got pretty upset so I put you to bed."

'Oh.' Hermione felt like a total idiot. She was insane to ever think Draco would try something on her anyway. It was clear he didn't care about blood anymore, but she was still her and he was, well him. Hermione moved from one embarrassment to the other as she started to remember their conversation. "Oh…. I'm sorry to have dumped that on you Draco. I really should learn to handle myself better."

"Hermione, if you handled yourself any better you'd be a robot. Now hurry up, we have a meeting in five." She hadn't even noticed the time slipping by. She hurried to finish her eggs and cleaned her dishes. Grabbing her bag and plopping sunglasses on her head she was ready to go. As she tied her sneakers by the door she saw that Draco was waiting for her.

"I can't wait to get to quidditch practice today, Granger. We're gonna have so much fun." The smirk and evil reminder made her stomach flutter uneasily. Hermione knew today was going to be a long day.


End file.
